BACK EUROP is setting up in Mâcon with ARGAN
At the end of 2023, ARGAN delivered a 14,000 m² turnkey site near Mâcon, certified Aut0nom and divided into three sections (ambient, positive cold, and negative cold), to BACK EUROP FRANCE so that it can manage its entire product range on a single platform.
This site, exemplary in terms of energy consumption, reduced carbon footprint, and respect for biodiversity, is also BREEAM Very Good certified.
Two years after the handover of this site, Bruno Verlhac, President of BACK EUROP France, looks back on the successes of this project:
Testimony:
Bruno Verlhac
President of BACK EUROP France
Bruno, you have been leading Back Europ since 2012; could you introduce your group to us?
BACK EUROP is the story of a group of SMEs that has become, in 30 years, the French leader in the distribution of raw materials, supplies, and small equipment for foodservice professionals, particularly in the bakery and pastry sector. Today, the group brings together 42 members, 2,000 employees, and supplies some of its 12,000 products to its 33,000 professional clients. With continuous growth, our combined revenue exceeded one billion euros in 2024.
This growth in your activity naturally comes with logistical challenges.
Indeed, as early as 2020, we anticipated the need for a new logistics facility capable of supporting and securing our growth. Our requirements took the form of a new tri-temperature warehouse of around 15,000 m² north of Lyon.
It was during this search that we established contact with ARGAN and selected the site of St-Jean-sur-Veyle for our new logistics facility.
ARGAN then proposed to develop a warehouse that produces its own energy: AutOnom®
Indeed, ARGAN had just delivered its first AutOnom® site in Serris, in the Paris region. The proposal was for a premium warehouse enhanced with a photovoltaic plant supplying energy both for on-site self-consumption and for storage batteries to take over at the end of the day.
In addition, the heating and cooling systems, which rely 100% on electric heat pumps and significantly reduce the site’s carbon footprint, also caught our attention. All of this is managed through Building Management System tools to measure and optimize our energy consumption.
Our two groups were fully aligned on high environmental standards, and we decided to enter into a 12-year fixed-term lease with ARGAN for the development of our new logistics site.
You took possession of your St-Jean-sur-Veyle site upon delivery at the end of 2023. Two years later, what is your assessment of the AutOnom® solution?
Today, we have enough perspective to draw a very positive initial assessment of this new facility. Our logistics operations—and in particular cold production—are energy-intensive, and the AutOnom® solution has had a real impact.
In 2024, we self-consumed 632 MWh of green, decarbonized, on-site-produced energy thanks to AutOnom®. This is equivalent to roughly a quarter of the annual electricity consumption of the inhabitants of St-Jean-sur-Veyle.
From an environmental standpoint, this equipment also prevented the emission of 33 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. This is significant and a clear asset in meeting our roadmap for reducing our carbon footprint.
The benefits are also economic. With this sustainable energy produced on-site, we have gained better visibility over part of our energy costs and reduced our exposure to price fluctuations, which have been highly volatile in recent years. The overall bill has also been reduced. In our case—on a site generating cold—the difference is substantial, amounting to more than 30,000 euros saved in 2024.
Finally, I would also like to highlight the benefits brought by AutOnom® to the well-being of our employees on site. The heating and cooling system using electric heat pumps allows for modularity and precise temperature adjustments, which traditional gas heating systems—common in most logistics and industrial sites—do not offer.
In conclusion, we are pleased to have chosen ARGAN and its AutOnom® solution for this new logistics site, not only for its operational efficiency and the well-being of our employees, but also for its environmental performance.
